News

Blackwood cancer help centre to stay open

SAVED: Islwyn AM Gwyn Price congratulates Kay Reed and Adrian Read of Blackwood based Cancercareline on the reinstatement of their funding from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) and Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC).

A CANCER charity will not be closing its doors to the public following a U-turn by its two main funders.

The news has been welcomed by AM for Islwyn Gwyn Price.

Mr Price recently met representatives from Blackwood-based Cancercareline Resource Centre following a decision by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) and Caerphilly County Borough Council to stop funding the charity.

Cancercareline provides a range of support services to anyone affected by cancer – patients, carers, family and friends – living in Caerphilly county borough.

Annual running costs for the charity is around £56,000, but it is not wholly dependant on funding. Kay Reed, Cancercareline Resource Centre manager, and Adrian Read, the charity’s chairman, told Mr Price that it would not be closing its doors or telephone lines to the public after both ABUHB and Caerphilly council agreed to reinstate funding with options to look at a longer-term funding strategy over a three-year period. It will allow Cancercareline to promote a “more sustainable financial structure and plan for the long-term,” Mr Price said.

He said he was extremely pleased that it had been agreed to reinstate their funding. “This means that Cancercareline can not only continue to provide an excellent service but also plan for the future.